


In Somnis Veritas

by vindiya



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-07-21
Updated: 2010-07-21
Packaged: 2017-10-17 12:52:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/177044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vindiya/pseuds/vindiya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adjusting to normal life after the job is difficult for Ariadne. Inception changed her life and it changed the world once word got out that that's how Fischer ended up dismantling his father's empire. Now there's a new job and the old team; the only team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Longing

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** I was playing with this Latin phrase for a while. "In somnis veritas" or in English "In dreams is truth". I figured it would make a wonderful story especially when it comes to _Inception_. I plan for the story to develop into an Arthur/Ariadne fic while coupled with another job. Hopefully I'll be getting back to the theaters to see the movie a second time very soon so all those details that currently stand out in mind are that much sharper. So I hope you enjoy. Concrit reviews are more than welcome. :-)

Returning to Paris was the hardest part for Ariadne. Once it was just the place she studied now Paris held far too many memories. But she managed at first. For a short period of time being able to immerse her in normalcy held a kind of novelty to it. Finally she was actually able to hang out with friends (although Ariadne needed to do serious damage control after the job). No longer possessed by niggling worries in the back of her mind that maybe she belonged back at the warehouse working on her mazes instead of lollygagging.

But it didn't last as the assignments that once left her awake for nights on end were completed with ease. Her friends distant as if worried that at any moment Ariadne was going to forget their existence again. The only person she talked to Miles, he having introduced her to Cobb. He was the only one who seemed to have even the remotest idea of what she was going through.

It all boiled down to the fact that she missed it.

* * *

Ariadne couldn't take it anymore; she went back to the warehouse. Just to see it she would repeat in her mind as she skipped class to fit in the time to go there. It was all she needed, or at least she kept telling herself.

When she finally got there Ariadne couldn't stay outside. Going into the space that once had been a meeting room, studio, and testing ground was a necessity. She climbed the stairs trying to ignore the feeling of excitement and apprehension that wound through her stomach. What if it was empty? How would she feel about that?

Stupid. Of course it would be empty. It was her first job so she was having a hard time letting go. Still it would be nice, she thought hand poised on the doorknob, to find someone in there.

Pushing the door open Ariadne took in the bright white walls with their peeling paint, the Parisian skyline that extended for miles around the open room. Empty.

She smiled sadly at the lonely looking room.

"I guess its time I moved on." She murmured to herself as she turned and headed back down the stairs and into the sunlight.

She was barely down the block when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"The café I took you to, twenty minutes." The person on the other end said and hung up.

Ariadne stared in wonder for a moment before turning around to head for the café. She didn't need to ask who just called her. His voice was familiar enough. He'd spent enough time introducing her to the world that he worked in and then she pushed her way into knowing his secrets. Cobb was in town. There was a job. And a chance… Ariadne wouldn't let herself think that. Any thought of _him_ had been locked up along with the: could haves, should have, and would haves of their relationship.

* * *

The café was bustling as always. But it was easy enough to find Cobb in the masses once she said she was meeting someone. He was in a corner with low light. There was a cup of coffee in front of him and another man whose silhouette she knew all too well sitting across from him.

She hesitated for a brief moment before sitting down next to Arthur. Both men nodded to her in greeting and a waitress stopped at the table to see if she wanted anything. There wasn't even a heartbeat of room for her to order for herself when Arthur did it for her. His memory impeccable when it came to her preferred drink.

Silence filled the sudden void that followed. Her coffee was delivered and she took her first sip before Cobb finally deemed it time for him to fill Ariadne in.

"How are your mazes?" He asked.

"Complex. Why?" She queried.

Ever since the Fischer job Ariadne had worked tirelessly to learn how to lucid dream. Maybe in her gut she knew that other jobs would come along that needed her expertise. So she learned and designed. Her flat was full of 3-D models of the mazes she built and tested at night. Not quite to the same degree as before, she was testing alone after all.

"Inception once done becomes a demand from other corporations. Extraction is no longer good enough. They want the ability to destroy competition from the inside before the competition becomes too great." Cobb explained.

Ariadne nodded; sipped her coffee and waited. The excitement from before once more gripped her stomach. She'd missed this but she wouldn't say so aloud.

"The mark is-"

"Doesn't matter. I'm in." She affirmed cutting off Arthur before he could tell her who they were going to manipulate this time.

To an architect that was of no consequence. Designing was everything.


	2. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N:** It took me a lot longer than intended to get the second chapter together. I apologize entirely. I brought Saito back for this chapter in what could either be a very brief sense or not so brief. I'm not really sure what to do with him. I personally can see that after the Fischer job Saito became just as hooked on shared dreaming and extraction as the other's that he uses it as a sort of second source of income or he has become a kind of benefactor for Cobb and his team. Which was sort of his capacity in the movie only this time around he wouldn't be the one who hired them. Let me know what you think because I'm not all that sure what to do with him.

In less than twelve hours Ariadne was on a plane. Cobb and Arthur couldn't stay long after Ariadne said she wanted in. There were still people to hunt down. Yusuf went underground following the Fischer job and Eames just dropped off the grid. Considering the world they lived in that seemed strange to her. More than seemed, it felt strange. But she didn't mention that.

Once back at her apartment Ariadne contacted Miles to let him know she wouldn't be in class for some time and that she was working another job. Cobb told her to do that; drop his name with Miles. He didn't explain why but for the most part Ariadne trusted Cobb's judgment. She sent her best friend at school a text saying she got another internship and she would have to drop off the face of the Earth again. Her friend never texted back.

There was a mad dash around her apartment, packing clothes and materials that she absolutely wouldn't leave Paris without. Packed and ready and bubbling with excitement just barely contained beneath the surface Ariadne left for the airport. A boarding pass in her name was waiting for her as Arthur said there would be.

It was strange to be in first class flying in a 747 toward Baltimore, Maryland. When she'd received her boarding pass there was a business card paper clipped to it with an address written on the back. That was her destination, 1304 Langwood Road. It was almost twelve hours on the plane and she couldn't help noticing in that time several things.

The people in first class seemed a little stressed. She'd kept an eye on the news over the last month. There were a growing number of strange occurrences that Ariadne knew were extraction jobs. The rich and powerful were scared. The mind no longer safe and secrets were finding their ways to newspapers and tabloids much too quickly for the rich and powerfuls liking.

Reclining her seat Ariadne had to wonder how many of these people have under gone training against extraction since Fischer dismantling his father's company made the news. And then there was a tabloid article that spoke of the possibility that Fischer was played like a pawn when he did that. It was the talk of the school for days on end before some celebrity did something more "important".

Ariadne though slept most of the flight. Dreaming and working on her mazes, practicing and honing skills that Cobb and his team taught her. She was a college student. What secrets could she possibly have worth stealing?

When the flight lands and she's collected her bags Ariadne has to fight with her taxi driver to get where she needs to go. She has to offer an extra twenty just to keep him from throwing her out of the cab, another ten to get the vehicle moving. As they get on the highway Ariadne finally lets the disappointment wash over her.

She knew better than to actually expect Cobb or Arthur to be there waiting. But they'd come to see if she wanted in on the next job. She shook her head in annoyance. How easily she'd come to believe that someone would be there waiting. Preferably a tall thin man in a tailored suit with slicked back hair. Ariadne tilted her head back and watched as skyscrapers and trees went whizzing by.

At the very least she was on her way, a thought that left her giddy in the wake of her disappointment.

The cab came to stop some time later. It was another warehouse. She wasn't surprised. Open floor plans seemed like Arthur's favorite after all. Maybe she'd have actual walls this time rather than sheets strung up to give the feeling of a separate room. Ariadne had to wonder at that thought. She'd just arrived and she wanted to know if there was a real office for her. She was just going to have to wait and see what this warehouse turned out to be like. It was her new home for the time being.

Paying the cabby Ariadne walked to the door and tested the knob. It was open. Tightening her grip on the handle of her suitcase Ariadne headed up the steep set of stairs beyond. The sound of screeching tires fading into the distance as the door slammed closed behind her.

The loft the stairs opened upon was bigger than that of the one in Paris. Not surprising, Saito paid the team very well for their parts in his job. They could afford more space and if any of the other's took jobs in the time between now and the end of the Fischer job there would be excess cash for such an occasion as this. Or she thought that at least.

Wandering further into the loft, she noted the doors on the left wall. There were several of them and they were all closed. Curiosity getting the better of her Ariadne altered her course and crossed to the doors. They were large and made of wood stained dark brown, a loaded contrast to the stark white walls. It was almost as if they were doorways to a different place an time. A time of decadence and richness that she couldn't even begin to imagine.

Taking a deep steadying breath Ariadne reaches out for the closest doorknob. Her fingers wrapping around cool metal and turning it gently until the door drifts open of its own accord. The room is dark beyond. All she can see is a small point of light deep in the back of the room. Stepping beyond the threshold everything shifts and changes.

Ariadne snorts at herself. How did she not realize this was a dream? She felt for her totem in her jeans pocket. It was there in all its perfect glory. Not a single sign of the imperfect groove she'd purposely etched into it.

"Since I'm dreaming I might as well see what I can before time runs out." She murmurs to herself moving further into the elegant entry way.

Soft instrumental music drifts out of the open doors on the other end of the room. Glancing up Ariadne notes the golden chandelier with crystal lights two grand staircases framing the doorway into the next room. The lighting golden on crème colored walls with dark brown wood paneling that came to about her waist from the floor.

Quite the welcome party she had waiting for her. Her shoes glided across the oak floor as she entered the next room. A large ballroom reminiscent of a fancy hall out for rent or the ballroom in a mansion from the thirties and forties. She smiled.

"May I have this dance?" Arthur's soft voice inquired.

"I should have known." She responded, "Just you and I?"

"Not quite." Arthur motioned across the room and Ariadne was greeted to the sight of Cobb and Yusuf.

"Still haven't found Eames?"

"If I didn't know any better love, I'd think that was almost hopeful of you to ask." Eames answered coming up behind Ariadne and Arthur a glass of champagne in his hand.

Ariadne laughed, "It wasn't. I promise."

A grin spread across Eames face and he winked at her as he walked by to join Cobb and Yusuf. How Cobb and Arthur managed to find him and drag Yusuf out of the underground in twelve hours was beyond her.

"It wasn't easy." Arthur explained long before she could put the question into words.

"But you did it." She murmured in approval, "So is this that long overdue celebration for the Fischer job?"

Arthur grinned and nodded. The music slowing and shifting from the soft almost romantic feel to something a little more energetic. His grinned slipped for a moment as her realized she was the cause.

"The party needs better music." She commented as clothes and décor changed to fit the new atmosphere. She could have changed more things, and drawn even more attention to herself but she left alone after that. She'd long since learned her lesson back when she had participated in her first shared dream. If this was a party she was not about to let herself get stabbed by one of Arthur's projections.

She disappeared into the crush of dancing bodies as Arthur watched.

Arthur's gaze met Cobb's from across the room. His eyes held the same look of pride that Arthur was sure his did. Ariadne had come a long way from the Fischer job. She understood limits. Which ones were okay to push and which were a bad idea. When she started changing his dream to something more to her taste Arthur worried that she would take it too far.

He was glad that she stopped. His subconscious having let the foreign dreamer fall to unimportance. She was safe as long as she left her changes to a minimum. He glanced at his watch. Seven seconds were left and… there was the audio cue.

They came awake shortly after that. Arthur first and he heard the others awaken as he blinked the fogginess from his mind. Ariadne was across from him her eyes bright with what he only hoped was eagerness to get to work.

Cobb spoke first once they were all awake.

"Welcome back. This job is going to be a little different this time. Won't it Mr. Saito?" Cobb asked and Arthur saw Ariadne's eyes shift immediately to the tall and imposing Japanese man that hired them last time.

He shook his head when he saw the question in her eyes. She caught her lower lip between her teeth but didn't say anything. He knew she was dying to ask, the night was going to be a long one.

"Yes it is. There are rumors that there is another team planning to take your target." Saito said and Arthur sighed and leaned back in his lawn chair.

This was inevitable. Once word that inception was possible got out there were bound to be other extractors looking to make a name for themselves through it. Creating their own teams to try and emulate Cobb's.

He glanced at Ariadne. He didn't see fear but he saw realization and resolve on her face. This job was going to be more dangerous in ways she couldn't imagine. Projections weren't going to be their only problem. Reality was just as unsafe. With inception poaching became an acceptable way to get a job. The unwritten codes between extractors no longer applying.

Their world was changing. Arthur couldn't be sure that it was for the best though.


	3. Malfunction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N:** So this is the third chapter. I'm not sure if it's a praise worthy event that the third chapter came out the same week as the second or not. I guess it could be, in that it means that I have inspiration to keep writing. So I probably should be happy that I have kept my muse alive long enough to get two chapters out in a week. I would like to thank all the reviewers of the last two chapters for their support, lovely concrits, and kind words. All of you make me glad to be part of this fandom. I wrote this chapter in about four sittings and unlike usual I didn't write the whole chronologically event wise. I wrote the beginning, then the end, and finished with the middle. I'm not quite sure how it happened but this chapter is somewhat beastly in its own right. But a good bit of action happens. And there's more Saito. (God I'm such a dork.) So anyway I've talked enough. Enjoy the third chapter.

It was almost like a dream. After the dream celebration – reunion – subsided she couldn't quite believe her eyes. Saito explained there was competition this time. Rumors that teams were poaching others for jobs. She didn't quite understand that. Inception was dangerous and could potentially be deadly. Some jobs were bound to go more smoothly than others, but poaching. It left a bad taste in her mouth just thinking about it.

Glancing down at the sketchbook in her lap Ariadne took a moment to take a look around her new workspace. She had four solid walls; a door made of heavy wood and stained dark brown, and windows that looked out over the street below. Several large pages were taped to the walls covered in sketches of mazes for dream levels. They were the ones she was most proud of. Large labyrinths that even Cobb took a few moments to solve when he first laid eyes on them two hours before.

There was a half finished drawing in light graphite lines. Crumbling archways and overgrown cobbled streets framed by stone villas. The edges were undefined and faded almost circular. Putting the pencil down Ariadne smudged a lower edge of the circle. It was nice but she needed a break as she glanced at the empty mug sitting on one of the folding tables. It was surrounded by scraps of cardboard, bottles of glue, a jar of exacto knives, pencil shavings, and scraps of paper.

 _I need more coffee_ , she thought to herself getting up from her stool and putting her sketchbook down on her desk.

Picking up the mug Ariadne crossed to the door just as it swung open Eames head popping in. For a moment Ariadne looked disappointed but she quickly smiled at the forger.

"Hi. I was just getting myself more coffee. Cobb call another meeting?" She asked tilting her head in confusion. Hadn't Cobb said the next meeting was tomorrow afternoon to give Arthur a chance to have some information on the mark or their competition? Whichever proved easier to find at the moment.

"Something like that, love. He wants to see one of the mazes you've designed."

"Oh. Yeah, give me a minute to pick one." She stammered turning to look at the designs hanging on the wall. Quietly gauging which would exhibit her development the best. The months between now and landing in LAX provided a lot of ground for her to work with.

Picking one at random Ariadne left her office, rolled up design in hand and met with the others in the main area of the loft.

Everyone else was already gathered. Yusuf fiddling with a new compound in a vial as they waited. Arthur and Cobb talking in quiet voices over some schematic. Saito was there Ariadne noticed but he was standing apart from the rest of the group. It was obvious that even after the job he commissioned them for he wasn't quite a part of the group. Eames was sitting in a lawn chair an apple in hand. It was missing a large bite from it.

Ariadne took a quick reassuring breath as Arthur and Cobb looked up from what they were talking about. It was now or never as she spread the design out over the table in the center of them all. The design was simple mostly (or maybe that was just her thinking).

Silence was the main mode as everyone else looked over the design. Ariadne was pleased to see that Cobb didn't avert his eyes. His guilt was behind him and he was again in control of his subconscious. The silence stretched on – Ariadne tried to focus on something other than Cobb's rapt attention on the sketch in order to keep herself from worrying that maybe she'd done something wrong. Maybe the design was _too_ simple. Maybe it was _too_ difficult and even Cobb couldn't solve the maze. That would be bad; right?

"Good. Have you thought about the actual dream you apply this to?" Cobb asked after what felt like hours floated by.

She bit the corner of her lower lip, eyes going from one man to the next. Eames looked proud, Yusuf impressed, she couldn't really judge what Arthur felt (he was always so difficult for her to read), Saito well he was as much of a mystery as Arthur. "A few," she started and Cobb nodded.

"Show me." He said as Arthur pulled the aluminum case out from under the table.

She hadn't noticed it there before, she fought the urge to bring her right hand to her pocket and check her totem – see if this were truly reality.

"Okay." She felt unnerved. On the last job Cobb didn't seem nearly as intense as he did now. He was distracted then, she knew that, but it was like she was meeting a different person. It was possible that his guilt made him different. She remembered the hours she spent learning from Arthur rather than Cobb. How she'd mentioned once that Cobb couldn't build anymore and that was why she was there.

But he was free to build now. Mal could no longer crash a job if he knew the labyrinth the architect created. That fact alone left Ariadne confused – if he could build, why wasn't he?

There was movement. Lawn chairs unfolded the table cleared of her drawing. The case opened with a snap and Ariadne came back to reality. She wasn't new at this anymore there wasn't any need to marvel at the rest of the team's efficiency in moments like these.

Settling on a lawn chair, Ariadne noticed that it wasn't just Cobb that was joining her. Eames and Arthur were on chairs of their own as Yusuf extended each length of tubing. She smiled to herself, knowing Arthur was coming was reassuring. Not that she had anything to worry about but it was going to take time to get used to the idea that going into a dream with Cobb didn't mean taking her dream life into her own hands.

The needle pierced her skin with a familiar prick of pain. Leaning back she settled back in her chair and closed her eyes. The clock beginning it's countdown from five minutes.

Within seconds she was in the middle of the city with the others. Italian villas surrounding them as projections went about their business shopping or talking with friends. There was a lovely café that she read about in a travel magazine once. That was going to require modification if the design was used on a job.

"Unless the mark spends time in small Italian towns, we'll need something more urban Ariadne." Cobb commented.

Nodding the world shifted. Skyscrapers and busy streets flooded with cars. Overhead trains rumbled by on their rickety tracks with squeals of metal against metal.

"Much better. This we can use."

A smile crept over Ariadne's face at the compliment for the city. After a moment she started explaining the mirages and tricks she'd used while constructing. All the while they moved through the streets. She talked and occasionally tweaked the design after Eames, Arthur, or Cobb pointed out a whole.

She wasn't paying attention to the time. And she was suddenly talking to her projections. The dream empty of her companions. She stood motionless for a moment waiting to see if maybe they were messing with her. Nothing happened. Not a single one of them popped out to try and scared her. Chewing on her lower lip Ariadne checked her watch. Seven minutes.

"I should have woken up." She murmured to herself in awe that she was still under. The longer she stood there staring at the face of her watch the more she began to fear she was stuck and never waking up.

* * *

"What happened?" Cobb demanded.

"I don't know." Yusuf said glancing at Arthur and Eames hovering over Ariadne. They were trying to wake her. Shaking her calling her name.

Arthur was stiff his expression worried. The machine was still pumping copious amounts of sedative into her system. Pulling the needle wouldn't do any good. She'd remain under. It would however keep her from overdosing and dying.

"Pull the needle." He told Eames continuing to shake Ariadne's shoulder roughly.

"What?"

"Pull the needle. It's still pumping sedative into her." Arthur explained in clipped tones. He slapped her cheek hoping the outside stimuli would wake her.

"Done." Eames said the needle laying on the floor a puddle of sedative growing as the mechanism kept running.

In the back of Arthur's mind he wandered if after the vial was exhausted would it shut down.

 _Come on Ariadne, wake up._ Arthur pleaded silently.

"This isn't working."

 _Of course it isn't, Cobb._ Arthur thought bitterly watching Ariadne's still face.

"A kick?" Saito questioned.

Arthur wasn't prepared for the next few moments. Saito and Cobb came up behind him and Eames pulled him away. For several seconds Arthur's heart was in his throat as he watched the two men upturn the lawn chair. It landed on its side seconds later but it felt much longer to Arthur.

Her eyes fluttered and then opened. There wasn't even room for him to breathe a sigh of relief when she started throwing up bits of her lunch on the floor. The sound was horrible and the scene was even worse. When there was nothing left in her stomach and Eames was dragging him away at some unheard command by Cobb, Arthur could hear her still coughing up bile.

It shouldn't have have been Ariadne.

* * *

"Where were you?" Cobb demanded his temper just barely restrained as he questioned Arthur out of Ariadne's earshot.

"I was here. Trying to wake her up." Arthur answered misunderstanding what Cobb meant exactly.

"No where were you? How did something like that happen to the case? It was your responsibility."

Arthur stood silent. The case was always in his possession. The only time it wasn't was when he was here in the warehouse. He couldn't be hovering over it all the time. He had work to do just like everyone else. As it was it was almost always in use. Running tests or training.

"It was fine this morning when you and Yusuf tested the new sedative." Arthur responded.

"If she had died."

"I know. I'll look into it." Arthur's tone was soft but hard. He didn't wait for Cobb to say anything further when he left the office.

* * *

Ariadne was sitting up. The worst of her dry heaves having subsided. Yusuf was checking her pulse, the size of her pupils. Eames came back with a bottle of water and left it on the low table next to her hand. Saito left a few minutes before and was pacing on the small balcony/ patio that the warehouse had. His cell phone pressed to his ear and his free hand gesturing almost wildly.

She took reassurance in knowing she wasn't the only one shaken up. Yusuf was just finishing explaining that she probably wasn't going to feel to great for a couple days. Reminded her that she needed to take it easy as her body purged any remaining sedative from her system. Advised her to drink lots of fluids and eat light meals.

She wasn't all that sure, she'd stopped paying attention when Arthur reappeared from Cobb's office. His jaw was set in a grim line as he walked back across the warehouse floor. She offered him a weak smile but he didn't return it, didn't even appear to have noticed.

Ariadne let Yusuf push her back into her chair. He was saying something about sleep. She didn't really make much else out. She was trying to focus on what Arthur was doing as he walked toward the case. He packed it up with quick practiced movements and then walked away. He didn't spare her a glance, didn't stop to make sure she was okay. He just walked away.

Disappointed Ariadne hung her head.

"That's it, get some rest. Don't fight it if you feel you're falling asleep. The body does its best healing that way." Yusuf encouraged.

Ariadne nodded slightly and let her gaze drift to the ceiling and unfocus. She was asleep within minutes, exhausted from those few painful moments of heaving up her lunch. Sleep exempting her from the burning sensation in the back of her throat from the bile rising up her throat. She dreamed or how Arthur should have reacted. Coming to kneel before her and making sure she was okay.

* * *

Ariadne stood in the doorway of Arthur's office watching him, she'd slept the majority of day away following her OD, and it was passed nine thirty now. His back was turned to her fiddling with the dream case. Arthur's quest to find the cause of Ariadne's near death experience still going at full steam. She bit her lower lip; he needed to get some sleep soon. He was always in before her and left after her. Lack of sleep would only allow him to miss something important.

Lost in her thoughts Ariadne didn't hear Eames coming up behind her. She just barely noted that someone was leaning against the other side of the doorframe. That wasn't all that important though, she was concerned for Arthur.

"He's upset you know?" Eames said quietly by way of announcing himself.

Ariadne remained quiet for a moment more tugging on her lip trapped between her teeth, "About what?"

For a moment there was silence as Eames marveled at her question. Then a smile spread across his face; how easily she forgave Arthur. "That you could have died this afternoon."

"But I didn't. Everything is alright. Cobb can blame Arthur, but I know it wasn't his fault." Her eyes never left Arthur as she spoke. She appeared mesmerized by how he shifted ever so slightly on his stool with the case open on the table before him. Each movement he made measured and controlled as always but she could see the stiffness. He was puzzled by the mystery that didn't want to have an answer.

"You don't know Arthur very well, love, he'll always think this was his fault." Eames murmured glancing down at his watch to check the time. He should really be getting her back to her hotel. The warehouse was no place for her at this hour.

"Can I change his mind?"

"Unlikely," Eames replied a short silence following before he pushed himself off the wall, "Come on. I'll take you back to your hotel."

For the first time Ariadne's eyes left Arthur. She wasn't puzzled by his suggestion, more like she was affronted, "That really isn't necessary."

Eames just nodded but leaned in closer to her his frame towering over hers, "Cobb believes otherwise. Shall we?"

"I suppose." She was unhappy. It was in her expression and the defiant light in her eyes. Ariadne didn't like the idea that the rest of them thought she needed protecting. She was going to be a hard girl to keep out of trouble from now on Eames just knew it.

He lead her away from Arthur's office and toward the stairs back down to the road where his car was parked around the back of the building. Ariadne followed pausing for a moment to glance over her shoulder toward the soft glow coming from Arthur's office. She could no longer see him but that didn't stop her from wanting to get one last glimpse.

 _Goodnight Arthur_ , she thought and then continued walking. Eames waiting by the door to the stairs, holding the door open for her Eames expression blank.

* * *

Arthur was frustrated. As far as he could tell there was nothing wrong with the machine. Every diagnostic he ran came back as functioning within normal parameters. Yet he knew if that were the case Ariadne wouldn't have – he shook his head. Thinking about that was not going to help figure out what happened.

As it was he wasn't particularly please with how he handled the situation. He could not afford for his control to slip like that again. He was glad however that Cobb and Saito had thought to give her a kick. This was the reason he'd kept his distance in the months since their last job. She tied him in knots that he didn't quite understand.

Arthur put the tool down and stared at the insides of the case. For the moment it was all exposed wires and tubes. He was missing something obvious. That was the only possible option left to him, one he wasn't enjoying. Too many options, choices, possibilities that potentially spelt disaster.

Dropping his head into his hands Arthur gave himself a minute to clear his mind. If he was missing something it was because he wasn't focusing. Ariadne was a big girl and capable of taking care of herself. In the meantime he had work to do. His job didn't have the space for him to worry about Ariadne. That was the way things were.

Forcing his shoulders to relax Arthur looked back at innards of the machine. Taking in every detail with an eagle's eye and an artists attention to detail, Arthur found the problem.

"Hello. How did you get there?" He asked aloud and pulled the small pin out from its place bridging two circuits. It was only on the panel that Ariadne had been hooked up to that afternoon. He looked at the circuits carefully they controlled how much and how quickly the sedative was pumped into the dreamer.

His eyes narrowed. This was not a good sign if someone knew enough about the technology in order to cause an apparent drug overdose. It was a good way to do, he would admit. It was clean and would receive very little investigation from authorities. It sent chills up his spine. Arthur's mind settling on only one way this was possible.

Someone within Cobb's carefully constructed team was playing for the other team. Whatever team that may be.


	4. Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N:** So this is chapter four. I haven't gotten around to editing it yet (I was just too excited to post it up), but I'll do that in the morning. It isn't nearly as long as the last chapter but it's exclusively Arthur/Ariadne with mentions of Eames and Cobb. I started writing the chapter aiming for a cute and somewhat fluffy chapter and didn't quite get that. But I swear I'll get to some cute and fluffy A/A in the near-ish future. Also I think my updates might get a little slow as the last chapter drained me mentally. I've never written a chapter quite like it before, so please forgive me. I will try to keep the updates snappy though. Also I would like to thank all of you that reviewed last chapter. I found your speculations on who the mole is awesome. It also helped reassure myself that I can actually do something like that without giving it away. The concrits were awesome and I'm glad that so many of you think that I've done a good job with keeping everyone in character. Alas it is after eleven and I should be getting to bed. So enjoy the chapter~

The days following the sabotage attempt were stressful. There once private and hidden warehouse compromised. The day after Ariadne's OD Cobb called a meeting. It was similar to the one Cobb held while Ariadne slept the afternoon before only with more talk about safety and emphasizing awareness of their surroundings as they headed in. He also laid it out that if possible no one should leave the warehouse alone at night.

But for now, today, they were working for the most part. Arthur noticed that Ariadne would come out occasionally and stare at the dream case by his feet. She hadn't done a run through since the incident. It seemed that for the moment she was wary – if not scared of the technology that the case held. While he wasn't looking forward to making Ariadne face her new founded fears it needed to occur in the near future.

He also noticed (and at first found it quite annoying) that Eames was keeping close to her. In the long run however Arthur knew he could trust Eames to take care of her. At least until he could do it himself. Arthur was fully aware that he couldn't take care of Ariadne and keep an eye on everyone else without one of the two suffering. She deserved better than to fall by the wayside because he was too busy watching everyone else. As it was Arthur was having trouble keeping his finding from Cobb. He doubted that Cobb would do such a thing (he trusted the man with his life) but for now he thought it better to keep his cards close to his chest.

"Arthur?"

"Hm?" He replied looking up from his little black book that he was making notes in.

Before him was Ariadne. She didn't look any worse for wear if he ignored the tightness in her eyes. She wasn't sure if this was right. Her fingers were curled in her scarf, knuckles white from gripping the fabric too tight. Carefully Arthur put his pen down and gave Ariadne his complete attention.

For a few seconds it appeared that she'd lost her nerve and then her fingers let go of her scarf and settled at her sides. Her back straightened in determination and she looked him in the eyes.

"Will you share a dream with me?" She asked finally the nervousness back in her eyes, the same eyes that flitted apprehensively to the case at his feet.

"You're not ready." He stated.

She wasn't. Still she was worried about having to repeat the endless heaving that she did only days ago. He could see her relief that he told her 'no' in the way her body relaxed almost imperceptibly. Maybe if he weren't the point man he wouldn't notice. Or maybe he would have, everything about her seemed to require his full attention to even the minutest detail of her body language.

"It's still too fresh in your memory." He went on when she didn't walk away.

Ariadne sighed and set herself down on the stool on the otherside of the table. Her elbows resting on the top as she dropped her head into her waiting hands. Her eyes closing as she thought (he assumed that was what that meant anyway). Not wanting to interrupt her Arthur turned his attention back to his little black book, his notes not nearly as interesting now that he was face to face with Ariadne.

Frustrated with his own lack of work ethic at that moment Arthur closed the book, sliding the elastic into place holding it closed. He glanced at Ariadne, her eyes still closed her expression almost peaceful. He wished that he could go back and keep her from that horrible moment where she couldn't wake up.

"How are your designs coming?" He queried after a moment watching as her eyes opened revealing the dark brown hue that he'd gotten so accustomed to watching open after a dream ended. A flash of memory floating through his mind reminding him of that time he stole a kiss from her in an attempt to keep their presence unknown in Fischer's mind.

Ariadne's lips pursed and he knew that she hadn't gotten any work done recently. Everyone thought she had, her music always a sign that she was working. No one thought to check on her in the hours between her arrival and leaving. Eames made sure she ate lunch and got her back to her hotel safe. But no one intruded on her space. That was tantamount to signing your life over to her. Usually resulting in her pulling a few rather dangerous pranks in run throughs.

He tapped his fingers against his leg for a moment as a pondered a thought that crossed his mind. Mind made up he picked up his notebook.

"Would you like to get some coffee with me?"

Silence stretched and Arthur wondered if he'd asked her the wrong question. Then she smiled (albeit a little weakly) and responded with a 'Sure.'

Removing his jacket from where he'd draped it over the back of the chair he slipped his notebook into the breast pocket and picked up the dream case. He noted how she stiffened and deemed it a good idea to explain that.

"Cobb doesn't want me to let it out of my sight."

"But wouldn't that mean you've already failed when you put it under the table?" She asked a slight hint of humor in her voice as they both walked toward the exit.

Arthur didn't notice before but she'd already had her little bag on her shoulder. Almost as if she'd wanted someone to give her a way out today. For the moment he was more than happy to oblige.

The little diner they stopped at was quiet. Most of its patronage was still in work so finding a table without many people around it wasn't difficult. For a while they sat simply drinking their coffee. The sound of a hiccupping air conditioner flowing through the vents over head while the employees tried to drown it out with music set at a slightly awkward level - quiet but not quite quiet enough.

Arthur thought about insisting they go elsewhere but Ariadne seemed taken with the place. She murmured something about it's normal look that she appreciated and missed with all the bistros and cafe in Paris. So he didn't fight with her about it. He was wishing now that twenty minutes passed that he had. The air conditioners hiccups were becoming more frequent as the minutes ticked by. As a result his nerves for the place were fraying ever so slightly too. But she looked happy, and much more relaxed that he deemed it a worthwhile sacrifice.

"Do you think you'll be able to get some work done tomorrow?" He asked off hand finally filling the comfortable silence with shop talk. He'd toyed with the idea of asking her about anything else but that was too personal and Arthur was anything but professional (regardless of how he may feel about Ariadne).

"I'm going to try." She said into her cup as she was about to take a sip. Returning it to the table she took a breath her shoulders rising and falling with the inhalation and exhalation. She was trying he realized to get up the nerve to say something else. Possibly more personal on that topic (or maybe not on that topic at all). "I come in every morning fully intent on designing. Then I get in my office and it's like I'm blocked up. Everything I sketch feels tired and useless."

Arthur sat quiet. She didn't say anything more, Ariadne just sat her hands once more tangling in her scarf. He wondered if she was using that now as her lifeline rather than her totem. He hoped not, that was never going to do. But he understood at least in a vague sense. She needed time and they had precious little of it. The date that they determined as their opening was approaching quickly. Too quickly.

"Well you best figure it out soon. We don't have a lot of time." Arthur wished after he spoke that he hadn't. The wounded look that Ariadne threw him was enough to make him feel like he should stuff his foot so far in his mouth that it could never come out. She had to understand though. Their relationship was purely professional.

"I'll try," Ariadne muttered glumly her hands removing themselves from her scarf and wrapping around her cup of coffee. there was a moment in which Arthur wondered at the possibility that she was going to pour it over his head for his idiotic and entirely unfeeling words. But she didn't move just held her cup and then spoke, "Tomorrow we'll share a dream?"

He hesitated the answer from earlier on the tip of his tongue when he changed his mind, "Of course. We'll need to get over your newfound aversion to shared dreaming." He answered and Ariadne nodded. He thought that everything would be alright. he didn't foresee that she would lean across the table and pour her coffee over his head before stalking off.

Apparently that was not the answer she'd sought with her question. Arthur watched her walk out coffee dripping from his now messy hair. their waitress came back her expression unimpressed as she set the check down on the table.

"You screwed that one up." She commented and walked away her red heels clicking on the linoleum floor of the diner.


End file.
